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Rs15.00 Vol ii no 245 22 pages islamabad — peshawar edition
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Coalition govt gets two-thirds majority in 104-member Upper House with 74 seats PPP becomes single largest party in Senate with 41 seats Mohsin leghari stages upset in Punjab with PMl-n’s support
Saturday, 3 March, 2012 Rabi-ul-Sani 8, 1433
PPP, allies sweep Senate polls
ISLAMABAD/LAHORE/KARACHI/PESHAWAR/QUETTA mIAN AbRAR/NAumAN TASleem/ISmAIl dIlAwAR/SHAmIm SHAHId/SHAHzAdA zulFIqAR
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HE Pakistan People’s Party-led ruling coalition obtained two-thirds majority in the Senate on Friday after winning 41 out of the 54 seats put up for contest, ending with the support of 74 members in the 104member Upper House of parliament. Per unofficial results, the PPP won 19 seats of the Upper House to emerge as the single largest party in the Senate – for the first time after 1970s, taking its total tally to 41. Previously, the ruling party had 27 seats, but five of its members had to retire on March 12 and would have reduced the party’s strength to 22. With this victory, the coalition government has now majority in both houses of parliament. According to unofficial results, the ruling party grabbed 19, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz won eight, the PMLQuaid, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) four each, the Awami National Party (ANP) seven, Balochistan National Party-Awami two and five independents, including four from FATA and one from Punjab, made it to the Senate. UPSETS
The win of Mohsin Khan Leghari of the PML-Q proved to be the biggest upset of the elections from Punjab, as the ruling party’s nominee Aslam Gill was defeated by four votes. ANP’s Daud Khan also surprised many by winning from Balochistan, but his win was result of a deal between the PPP and ANP which had only three members in the Balochistan Assembly and the PPP arranged at least seven more votes for him. The PML-N’s Nisar Khan Malakand also won a seat from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, though his party did not have the required strength in the assembly. PAKISTAN MUSLIM LEAGUE-QUAID
KARACHI: Supporters of Pakistan People’s Party candidate Saeed Ghani lift him on their shoulders at the Punjab Assembly after his victory was announced by the provincial election commission on Friday. online
10 troops, 50 militants killed in Khyber, orakzai Taliban suicide bomber kills 23 li militants coming out of a mosque after Friday prayers
Iran gas pIpelIne
Think again, US warns Pakistan WASHINGTON INP
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The PML-Q was the biggest loser in the Senate elections as it was reduced from a majority party to a minority party with 21 of its members of the total 22 scheduled to retire. However, the Q league also managed to grab another four seats in the Senate polls and took its number from one to five – thanks to the PPP, which accommodated its isolated ally. MUTTAHIDA QAUMI MOVEMENT The MQM won four new seats. Its earlier strength was six senators, but three of its Senate members were due to retire. AWAMI NATIONAL PART Y The Awami National Party (ANP) won seven seats, taking its total number to 12. It had six seats in the Upper House and Senator Alyas Bilour was the only ANP member to retire. However, Bilour was re-elected as technocrat. PAKISTAN MUSLIM LEAGUE-FUNCTIONAL The PML-Functional also managed to win a seat as former Sindh chief minister Muzaffar Hussain Shah was elected to the Upper House. This would be his first election to the Senate. The PML-F has regained its lone senator due to retire on March 12. BALOCHISTAN NATIONAL PART Y-AWAMI The BNP-Awami won another two seats to take its total number to four. Its president, Mir Israrullah Zehri, had to retire on March 12, but he was re-elected. CoalItIon government’s strength: The Senate election results showed that 74 senators, including 41 from the PPP, five from the PML-Q, seven from the MQM, 12 of the ANP, one from PML-F, four of BNP-A and four from FATA, were siding with the coalition government. Mohsin Leghari, the independent candidate elected from Punjab, has yet to decide about his future. opposItIon musCle: The opposition got only 12 seats, with eight candidates winning from the PML-N and four from the JUI-F. PAKISTAN MUSLIM LEAGUE-NAWA Z The PML-N won eight seats in the Senate polls. It had seven senators and only Senator Ishaq Dar was to retire on March 12. However, Dar was elected unopposed and the PML-N now has a total 14 members in the Senate. The surprise win of Nisar Khan Malakand from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Continued on page 04
PESHAWAR SHAmIm SHAHId
A suicide bombing carried out by Pakistani Taliban against another militant outfit killed 23 people and injured 30 others, while 10 soldiers and around 50 militants were reported dead in clashes between security forces and extremists in Khyber and Orakzai agencies on Friday. A suicide bomber targeted Lashkar-e-Islam (LI) militants while they were coming out of a mosque after offering Friday prayers, killing 23 people and injuring 30 others. The incident occurred in the Nakai Mehrbaan area of Tirah Valley, Khyber Agency. Tribal sources said almost all the victims belonged to the LI militant
group headed by Mangal Bagh. Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Dera Adamkhel chapter claimed responsibility of the attack. Three other blasts also rattled the area, but so far no human casualties or property losses have been reported. Earlier, dozens of militants ambushed a contingent of security forces advancing through the Lakar Baba area of Bazaar Zakhakhel, which is considered the gateway to Tirah Valley. The area is dominated by Zawdeen clan of the Zakhakhel Afridi tribe. The surprise and powerful attack claimed the lives of 10 soldiers and injured three others, sources said. The retaliatory offensive against the militants continued for a couple of hours, and security forces claimed to have killed 23
militants besides injuring several others. An important commander of Lashkar-e-Islam was also reportedly killed in the operation. Separately, 23 militants were killed and 12 were injured in Upper Orakzai Agency when security forces pounded militant hideouts with the help of bomber jets, a military official said. It is relevant to mention that a high-level meeting held recently at Governor’s House, Peshawar decided to intensify military action against militants in Khyber Agency. Although high ranking authorities claimed that the TTP and LI had agreed on a truce, the two militant groups remain hostile to each other in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the adjoining tribal belt.
The United States has asked Pakistan to “think twice” on its plans to go ahead with the construction of a gas pipeline from Iran, cautioning Islamabad that Tehran is an “unreliable” partner. The American statement came a day after Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar refused to tow the US line on the IranPakistan gas pipeline and said that Islamabad would go ahead with the project. In fact, the two countries appear to be headed towards confrontation on this contentious issue. On Wednesday, US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton said there would be “dangerous implications” for Pakistan if it went ahead with the gas pipeline project, which in Islamabad was seen as nothing but a strong warning coming from the Obama administration. “I don’t think what the secretary said was appreciably different than what we’ve been saying for weeks and weeks publicly, privately, if not months on this subject. Continued on page 04
All ‘escape routes’ for Haqqani blocked ISLAMABAD TAHIR NIAz
The memo commission on Friday did everything possible to block all ‘escape routes’ so far available to Husain Haqqani in the memo scandal by putting him on notice to be available in Pakistan, directing him to submit copies of the bills of his private and official mobile phones and the PIN of his ‘missing’ Blackberry sets, with a warning that otherwise the commission would summon his wife, family mem-
bers and the foreign secretary, with whom he must have had contact through his Blackberry, in an attempt to trace the his handset’s PIN. As the commission is nearing the completion of its task with more evidence pouring in against Haqqani during the cross-examination of Ijaz, it seems in no mood to hear more excuses from Haqqani about the missing Blackberry sets, submission of Blackberry PIN, mobile phone bills and his availability before the commission. “We want to get down to the truth but
there is no primary evidence coming from your side,” Justice Qazi Faez Isa, the chairman of the commission, told Haqqani’s counsel. The commission directed the former ambassador to the US to either admit or deny the charges as ‘simple denial’ of everything on record against him would no longer work. “He (Haqqani) should take a clear position on the charges leveled by Mansoor Ijaz against him and subsequently inform the commission in writing within the next nine days. Continued on page 04